This invention relates to a liquid crystal display element and a process for production thereof, particularly to a liquid crystal display element capable of keeping a uniform gap all over the display areas of the element, for example, in the case of an element using a very thin flexible substrate such as a plastics film and an element whose substrate is a rigid body such as a glass plate and which has a large panel size, such as elements for television, character display and the like.
Liquid crystal display elements comprise a pair of transparent substrates, electrodes formed on the individual surfaces thereof facing each other, a liquid crystal material layer held between the substrates, and a spacer (a gap controlling material) for keeping the gap between the substrates. The substrates are adhered to each other at the periphery with a sealant. The gap between the substrates is controlled by incorporating a spacer material such as glass, beads, glass fiber or the like into the sealant. When the substrate becomes thin or large, the gap at the center of the element was changed owing to deflection caused by the weight of the substrate itself or pressure from the outside.
In conventional methods, insulating granules such as glass fibers, alumina granules, titanium oxide, or the like are dispersed on the substrates. As methods for dispersing them, there are methods comprising distributing the aforesaid insulating granules by use of a dispersion medium such as an alcohol on the substrates which have been subjected to orientation treatment for orientation controlling of the liquid cyrstal molecules, thereafter constructing the substrates into an element, and then enclosing liquid crystal therein; and a method comprising incorporating a spacer material into only the peripheral sealing portion, making an element, and then enclosing therein a liquid crystal material containing insulating granules, thereby distributing the insulating granules in the element. However, according to either method, the insulating particles distributed in the element are not fixed, and hence when a pressure is applied from the outside, the insulating granules move, so that the gap of the element is changed.